Means for correlating speed of clutch engagement for speed of vehicle



Oct-ll, 1938. f T. B. T-YLl-:R I 2,133,001 MEANS FOR CORRELATING SPEED OF CLUTCH ENGAGEMENT TO SPEED OF VEHICLE Filed June 2. 1932 j 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jil T. B. TYLER 2,133,001

Filed Jun 2, 1932 4 sheets-sheet 2 L//////////`I/// v f l ,v

` ATTORNEY INVENTQR .7kg @wals .7' [ef Oa. `11, 193s.

MEANS FOR CORRELATING SPEED OF CLUTCH ENGAGEMENT-T0 SPEED OF VEHICLE T. B. TYLER oct. 11,1938.

MEANS FOR CORRELATING SPEED OF CLUTCH ENGAGEMENT T0 SPEED OF VEHICLE Y 4 Sheo-ts-Sheet 3 Filed June 2, 1932 f '"Vmf f/ mfg] zw .ar/J if A ORNEY Ti B. TYLER Oct. 1l, 1938.

MEANS FOR CORRELATING SPEED OF CLUVTCH ENGAGEMENT TO SPEED OF VEHICLE Filed June 2, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ATTORNEY$ -intentes oeulmaas A Y Y il l2,133,001

l UNlTEDfsTATl-:s PA-rlaNroFl-lce l e i matou e e r` V:MEANS FOR UOBBELATING sm' 0Fv Tracy Brooks,` Tyler Detroit, meh., assigner to lThe Monopower borporatieu, Detroit, meh., a corporation of Michigan I Application .lune z, im, serai No. 14.944 z (cl. isz-01) This invention relates to clutch control mechmarient, thOIlsh it should vary with rthe Speeranisms, particularly adapted for use with power f the Vehicle. with the mechanism described in actuated clutches ofautomobiles. the foresoins, will be the same, because it is NItis well known, in the 'operation of autocell'elted t0. the Sear Selection.

5 mobiles, that it is desirable to correlate vthe The'lnvention ofthis application-aims to Pros speed ofV clutch engagement with the speed of Vide e meenam@ which Wm m8115118 the Speed the vehicle, so that the clutch parts will be of clutch eneement directly Bhd Positively t0 engaged slowly when the vehicle is moving slowthe Deed 0f the Vehicle. regardless v01' the 8881 ly and more rapidly when the vehicle is mov-` election met happens 1i0 be in e'ect. In the 1o ing more rapidly, with .peduy opel-ated, embodiments ,disclosed the clutch actuating 10 clutches, which are at all times under the permechanism is Operativelv ,connected to and is sonal control ofthe vehicle operator, such corlnnneneed by. e drivin! Per* 0d the Vehicle. relation is a simple matter` and is effected by namely the Pmlenefemti end the Peedf the permitting the clutch` pedal to move back more letter governs the Speed 0f clutch mehr,

slowly whenthe vehicle is moving slowly than 'f f the geel' seieenenl5 when the vehicle is moving rapidly. Infact. in The invention funnel em t0 Provide e011121131 thev case of pedillllyV operated clutches. such cormeenam 101' nuten mung mm the een* relation is effected more or less sub-consciously trol m bem! 0f Flei WP, el diby operaton c' l Closed in the various embodiments, and an hav With the advent of power actuated clutches,y m8181111 Underlying thought the idea of cor- 20 that is to say, clutches actuated by means whose relating the Speed of clutch encasement posispeed is Anot under the control of the operator, tively t0. the Deed 0f the Propeller Shaft; the'desirabiiity or providing a control for they '111einvention 'further alms w provide mean speed of the actuating means becomes apparent. for-correnti the Tete 0f eetutien 0f Veri- It has been proposed to-provide a control which able actuator, Preferably 1511011811 not mi?. 25 is correlated to the vgear selection in the trans-i'` n ,clutch actuator, t0 the Speed 0f mvins Dart, mission and thus indirectly to the speed of the Preferably thvueh not necessarily the propeller vehicle. For example, a mechanism has been Shen-0f enieummobilei provided which causes the clutch to be engaged Still further alms and obiects of the Present slowly when the vehicle isfin low gear, a bit invention Will be Observed more redllyilwn ref- 30 more rapidly when the vehicle is in intermedi- @renee t0 the fOllOWlnZ detailed descrilltlnef ate gear and stl11 more rapidly when. the vehicle embodiments of the invention and to the apis in high gear. pended drawings in which One important objection to such mechanism Figure 1 shows one form of clutch actuator. is observed at this time.,` It often occurs to the With its associated Perf-Sl 5 operator to start his vehicle in :intermediate F188. la and 1b show two forms of valves for 3 gear Vand with a construction as mentioned in use with the CtUtOr. the form 0f F18. 1a being the foregoing, the clutch will Ybe actuated more Shown in use inthe actuator 0f F18. 1i rapidly than is desirable, because of the fact Fis. 2 shows oneform o1' control means. and

40 that they vehicle is in intermediate gear. The is a section as if on line 2 2 of Pig. 1; 40 clutch actuation in such a. case is too rapid for Pl. 3 shows a second form of clutch actuator; smooth starting, because, though thel vehicle is Figui and'5 show a second form of control in intermediate gear, its speed is still low, the means,'and are sections as if on lines 4 4 and vehicle having started from rest. 5 5 of ll'igs. 5 and 4 respectively;

Further, at times the operator mayV desire lto Fig. 5a shows a modincation of the control 45 shift from low gearto high gear directly, even device of Fig. 5 and may be used with the valve though the vehicle is at relatively low speed, and of Fig. 1b, and the mechanism described in the foregoing causes Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical cross section the clutch parts to engage more rapidly than they of an automotive 'vehicle illustrating the present should. invention asembled thereon. 50

Further, sometimes the shiftirom intermediate In Fig. 6 the numeral vI` designates an engine gear to high gear is made when the vehicle is having a carburetor 2 provided with the usual atV fairlyklow speed and at other times the shift control valve 'and connected to an intake manis made when the Vvehicle is at fairly high speed, ifold 4. The engine shaft is indicated at 5 and In these two instances, the speed of clutch enis adapted to be connected to a. drive shaft I by 55 a clutch 1 having a spring 8 adapted tomove the same to its engaged position and a. collar 9 engaged by a lever II on a clutch shaft I2 s0 that upon rotation of the 'latter the clutch is disengaged. A clutch pedal I is mounted on the clutch shaft I2 and is adapted to be moved downwardly to rotate theshai't I2 in a direction sc that the lever II is moved to disengage the clutchl, either by pressure exerted thereon by an operator, or by a clutch actuator.

'Ihe clutch actuator includes a cylinder I4 having a low pressure port I5 and a high pressure port I6. Tile low pressure port is connected to the intake manifold 4 of the engine I by a conduit Il, in which case the high pressure port is connected to atmosphere through a valve to be described later.

In the cylinder is a piston plunger I8 connected to the clutch pedal by a rod I9 and a cable 20, the latter passing over a lxedpulley 2|.v It will be readily seen at this time that a dierence in pressure on opposite sides of the plunger I8 will cause actuation of the clutch parts.

'Ihe actuator is controlled two valves, operating in tandem. One of these valves, referenced 30, is moved by the operator through a manipulator pedalV 3|, link 3| and crank 32 (in dotted lines) and its position determines `the fiact of operation of the actuator, thatv is to say, Whether the actuator will or will not operate to move the clutchl parts. Theother valve, referenced 33, is connected to the propeller shaft through an actuator control rod 34 vand a governor or variable control device to be described later, and its position determines the rate ofvv operation of the actuator, correlating the same to the speed of the propeller shaft. The manipulator pedal 3| is connected by a rod 3| to the carburetor valve or throttle control valve 3.

, The valve is in the form of an axiallyprotatable cylinder and has three peripheral,A shallow and wide slots or reliefs 35, 36, and 31, as shown. Twok of these, and 36, are of uniform depth; the third, 31, is of non-uniform depth to define a wedge shaped passage. The valve further hasI a transverse bore 31" connecting reliefs 35 and 43l, as shown,

The valve 33 is also cylindrical and axially .rotatable and has on its periphery a part-eircumferential slot 38 (Fig. la)` into which opens a partial transverse bore 38a, the latter also. opening into an axial partial bore 39, which opens to the end of the valve. The slot 38 vis of nonuniform width or wedge shaped, as shown, and the effective size of the opening through valve 33 depends upon the position ofthe valve in the valve body, in a manner and for .reasons tobe described later. f

The valves 30 and 33 are disposed and axially rotatable in chambers and 4I of a valve body 42. Into chamber 4D opens thefollowing ports: I6, connected to the cylinder I4; 43, open to atmosphere; 44, open to chamber 4I; and 44a, open to an L shaped` passage leading tothe cylinder'vl4 through a port 46.- Into chamber 4I f open the following ports: 44, open to chamber 40; and 41, open to passage 45. f'

'I'he operation of the actuator without regar to its rate of operation, may'be described as follows: y

When the engine is not running the parts will be in the position shown, and this maybe assumed as a starting position.

When the engine is started and while it is idling, suction in the intake manifold (or pressure through 43-36-I8) will move plunger I8 to the left, to move the clutch pedal down to move clutch I to its disengaged position.

plunger I8, permitting spring I3 to move the clutch pedal up toclutch engaged position.

The parts will remain in the last named position until-the operator releases the throttle or manipulator pedal, whereupon the spring will restore the valve partsto the position of Fig. 1,

to cause the clutch parts to be disengaged.

far little mention has been made of the means to control or vary the speed of the clutch actuator and since the invention is principally concerned with such control means, the same will now be described.A

The actuator control means or the means to correlate the speed of the actuator with the speed of the propeller shaft is shown in Fig.` r2, and includes a casing having bearings 6I, in which is mounted a slidable shaft 62 journaled in a nonslideble but rotatable sleeve 63. To the latter is secured a spiral pinion`ii4meshingy with a spiral gear 65 secured to the propeller shaft of the vehicle 66, the latter :projecting into the casing 60. On the shaft are fixed collars 61 between which governor links 68 are rotatably connected to the shaft 62 by a collar 61a. The links are also connected te the Weighted governor arms 59, these in turn being connected to the rotating sleeve 6,3. A springk le, surroiuiding the shaft 62 tends toA expand and thus counteract the inuence of the weighted arms- 69. These arms tend to move the shaft 62 to the right, Fig. 2, wliile'spring III tends to move shaft 62 vto the left, Fig. 2.

1The shaft 62 at its free end, is provided'with rack teeth 'I2 meshing with a pinion 13 on the end of the rod 34 which connects to the valve 33, the latter, as previously mentioned, having a wedged shaped slot 38 whose position with respect to the port 44, determines the rate at .which the pressure medium inthe actuator cylinder, will bleed out to the low pressure side, thus determining the return speed of the clutch actuator.V It will be seen that when thepropeller shaft is at rest, or is rotating slowly, the governor arms will be in, and the rod 34 will be so positioned that the narrow end 'of the slot 38 will be in register with port 44. Conversely, when the ,propeller shaft is rotating rapidly, the arms Se will be out'and the rod 34 will have been rotated to cause the wider part of slot 38 to register with port 44 of the actuator.

The control operation just described effectively causes the clutch to be engaged slowly when the vehicle is at rest or is moving slowly and. causesv the clutch to be engaged more rapidly whenvthe vehicle is moving. rapidly, all this taking place without regard to the gear selected, orto any `other factor.

The control operation mightl well be described as follows, in connection with a schedule of vehicle operation: Assume the vehicle is at rest, in neutral, and the motor running. At this time the clutch pedal will have been pulled in (disengaged) by thesuction from the engine intake.

To start the vehicle, the yoperator shifts gears to low and stepson the manipulator pedal. 'I'he rotary valve 30 is turned to create a by-paas around plunger 3, the by-pass' being of small capacity due to the fact that the narrow endy of ,slot 30 is presented to port 44I the propeller shaft then being at rest. The clutch pedalwill move up (engage)` slowly,'and thepropeller 'shaft' will rotate slowly.

When the car attains the desired low gear speed, the operator takes his foot off Vthe pedal 3|, this action shutting off the b'ypass inthe actuator. The clutch pedal will ,bemoved down Y sired to'shift to high gear.

75 Fig. 1, the pressure medium was bled out of f It will further be observed that relief 31 and port 44a provide an additional bleeder path, open gradually upon movement of y'peetial 3| to or nearfull advance position.

Anotherr form of clutch actuator'which may well be used with the control means of Fig. 2, or with any other suitable control means, is shown inFig. 3, and in. this form vthe critical or controlling element' is a cylindrical valve like that at 33, Fig. 2. This form of actuator is used with a clutch pedal ||0, shaft ||3, spring ||3. It includes a cylinder ||4 having a plunger ||0, connected by a rod H3, and a cable |30, passing over pulley |2I, to pedal ||0. It further has a valve |30 connected to pedal |3| by a link |3|a and av crank |33, and also a valve |33 connected to a governor or control device by al rod |34. The valve |30 has reliefs |30 and |36, `separated by ribs,as shown, and the valve |33 has a wedge shaped slot |30, and bores, not referenced, like those at 30a and 33 of Figure l. 'I'he valves are rotatably disposed in chambers |40 and |4| of avalve body |43 and the latter is provided with ports |43 and ||0, the former being connected to a source of low pressure medium (intake manifold) through conduit ||1 and the latter being connected to a source of higher pressure medium (atmosphere).

'I'he valve body further has the following ports: |43, (already mentioned) connecting chamber |40 with the low pressure line H1; |44, connecting chamber |40 with chamber |4|; |40, connecting chamber |40 with the cylinder H4; and |41, connecting chamber |4I with the port |40 through a passage |43.

In this form of actuator, the operation is as follows; when the engine is not running the parts are as shown. As soon as the engine starts, with th pedal |3|\,up, suction in the manifold pulls plunger ||0 to the left, disensslns the clutch.

gear and when it is de- When the manipulator pedal is depressed, valve |30 is rotated, closing the low pressure port |43 and opening the high pressure port ||0, whereupon the plunger ||0 moves back (to the right) to clutch engaged position, this being caused by the bleeding in of pressure medium through |0- |30-|44-|30-|41-|43-|40, 'the speed of bleeding in, and consequently the speed of clutch engagement being controlled by the slot |30, whose position depends upon the speed `of the propeller shaft.

It will be seen that whereas inthe actuator of .portions |0| in which is ter shaftisprovided with rack for the same reason. I

Another form of actuator control means or variometex-which may well be med with the `actuators o f Figs. l and .3, orwith other forms of actuators.` and` which is' operated by huid, rather than by centrifugal or governor action, is shown in Figs. 4 and. In this form of control, there'is provided a. casingfilll' havingl Journalled a shaft |03, the latter having a pinion |04 meshing with a gear |03 keyed toA the propeller shaft', |00. 'lhs speed of shaft |0| affects the position-ofa slidable shaft of a compound fluid valve, and the latteeth |13 meshing with a pinion |13 on the rod 334 orf a valve (not shown) which corresponds tothe valves 33 and |33 of the. actuators ofl'ks. 1 and 3. Movement of theslidable shaft causes .movement of the rod 334 and of the valve thereon. for reasons which have been described in the foregoing.

The slidable shaft above mentioned, and referenced |00 has a tapered head |0| seated in the tapered chamber |03 of a valve body |03, there being avv spring. |04 for urging. the shaft down into position to close a port |00. A cap |00 on body |03 has ports |01 for-reasons given here- 'I'he port |00 opens into achamber |03, communicating with the i through a port |03a, and in which is eccentrically disposed a cylindrical rotor |33. the latter being fixed to the end ofl the rotating shaft |03 to rotate therewith. 4The rotor |33 is provided with sliding vanes |3| which, as the rotor rotate, cause transfer of lubricant from the lower interior ofthe casingl|00 through porn |03a and |00,' to the chamber |03, the lubricant then lifting the valve shaft |00 andescaping around the head |0| of the same, and out through 'the porte |01, back into lthe upper part of the casing.

It will be seen that the degree of lift of shaft |03. and consequently, the degree of rotation of actuator control rod 334, depends upon the speed of the rotor |30, for as,the speed of latter increases (due to an increase in the propeller speed), the volume of oil which passes the head ini will increase thus forcing the valve shaft |00 higher. In this fashion, the position of the actuator control rod 334. and the speed of the actuator is correlated to the propeller speed.

In Figs. 1b and 5a are shown parts, used together, for permitting a "stepped" variation of the size of the bleeder path, rather than the gradual variation thereof permitted by the parts of Figs. 1a and 5. The construction permits a slow engagement of the clutch, at. all speeds belowachange overspeedofletussayilve miles per hour, anda rapid engagement of the clutch, atallspeedsaboveflvemiiesperhour.

The valve of Fig. 1b, referenced 333 and attached to a control shaft 334, may take the place of valve 33 of Pig. l. It has a stepped slot 330 of two different widths as shown, and has bores 330a Aand 333, like those at 30a and 33 of Pig. i.

Thevalveofl'ig.' lbmaybeusedwiththe control of Pig. 5a, the latter in general resem bling that of Pig. 5. v This control has a slidable shaft 300 provided with a head 30| slidable in the cylindrical chamber 303 of body 303, there being a spring 304 for urging the shaft 300-down into position to close port 300. A cap 300 Is provided with ports 301, as shown.

nside of the casing |00 'I'heshaft head38| has a small groove: `Illa in its side, and ,the body .333 hasa large port 333a inits side, as shown. opening into chamber s2 'l I The control of Fig.- 5a cooperates vwith --the valve offFig.` 1b, and with other parts, shown in Figs.1'5 as follows: When the propeller shaft is at rest the shaft 330 will beV helddown by the spring'384,'and valve 333 (Fig. lb) will have its .narrow part aligned with the bleeder port in lits valve chamber. yWhen the propeller shaft -is rotated "slowly at a speed below the vchange over speed, the small amounty of fluid lpumped by the rotor. |30 (Fig. 5) will escape to ports 381 and back into the casing,` through the groove 33Ia, the cross section'of` the latter beingfproperly dimensioned, and the shaft V33| will not be lifted-to move valve 333. vClutch engagement: will therefore take ,place slowly though at a constant rate, so long as the propeller shaft speed isv-below the change over speed.

When the propeller shaft is rotated rapidly, at a speed greater than the change over. speed, the rotor vI9!! will pump more iluid to the chambery 382 than the groove 33m. can accom-r modate. The Afluid will therefore lift shaft 380 to rotate valve 333 vuntil the wide part of its slot 333 registers with the bleeder port, the liftingof shaft 380 continuing until the head 38| passes the large port 383a, after which the fluid escapes through the latter, without further ef- -fe'cton shaft 380. Accordingly, at all speeds of the propeller shaft above the changeover speed, the valve 333 will be in position to permit clutch engagement rapidly, speed. Y

Other forms of actuators and control devices might be suggested at this time, but vare not here mentioned specifically,- and it is to be un` but at constant high vvments. but the claims which follow.

amm that the scope of the invention' of this application is to be determined, not bythe for going detailed description of preferred.

v What I claim is: i u 1. In an automotive vehicle having a manipulator pedal, a clutch and a driving part whose speed corresponds to that of the vehicle, means "for, actuating the clutch and speed sensitive means controlled by the speed of the driving part, theclutch actuating means being of the liquid pressure type. and including a clutch actuating plunger,`'a valve connected to the y manipulator pedal, and a valve connected to the speed sensitive means, said speed sensitive means including a slidable shaft operatively connected to the driving part and responsive to liquid flow therearound induced by the driving part. the shaft being connected to the secondv one of the valves, the vposition of said second valve being ydetermined by the position of said shaft.

2. In an automotive -vehicle having a manip# -ulator pedal, a clutch and a driving part whose lspeed corresponds to that of the vehicle, fluid `latter being determined by the position of said shaft.

'raser BROOKS TYLER. 

